


Hugging Zuko

by Em_is_here



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: And honestly, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, and he likes the hugs, based off of a tumblr post, everyone likes hugging Zuko, it gets a bit philisophical at times, zuko is a furnace
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:14:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24463330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Em_is_here/pseuds/Em_is_here
Summary: Zuko is incredibly warm.The Gaang like to hug him.He also likes the hugs
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 32
Kudos: 385





	1. Aang

**Author's Note:**

> The first of a few short drabbles in which there is a lot of hugging. The boy deserves more hugs

It was a day’s flight to the sun warrior civilization. So they would be spending the night away from the air temple without tents.

It wasn’t Aang’s first time spending a night like this. But those nights, everyone slept in a pile together next to Appa. Now it was just him and Zuko.

Aang looked back from his place at Appa’s head to see Zuko sat on the left side of the saddle, staring off into the sea below them, looking as frustrated as he had been when they had left the temple. At least he wasn’t scowling.

“Why are we landing? We need to get to the sun warriors as fast as possible!”

“If Appa sleeps, he can fly faster. Besides, we’ll be no good if we’re too tired to walk when we do get there. Come on, let’s eat and then sleep.

Zuko continued to grumble, but brought out a small amount of bread to share between them. Once they had stopped, even Zuko had to admit that he was bone tired. So when Aang slipped down next to him, their sides touching, he didn’t have the strength left in him to care.

Zuko was warm to the touch. He radiated heat, even though he could not control the fire inside himself at the moment. Warmer than even Appa was. Aang leaned into him, almost unconsciously.

The both of them agreed not to mention anything to the others when they woke up cuddling.


	2. Sokka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka has concerns, Zuko helps

The night after they had made the decision to stay in the prison to break out Suki and his father, Sokka sat on his bunk in the empty room he and Zuko had found. He was curled up into himself, knees under his chin. Zuko watched him from the other side of the room on his own bunk; the boy was staring at the floor.

“What’s wrong Sokka?”

“I’m just worried about Suki and my dad. What if the plan goes wrong, what if my actions get them hurt again? Suki has already been tortured by your sister, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if she got captured and tortured again.”

Zuko moved from his bunk to Sokka’s, settling next to the water tribe boy. It was oh so easy to forget how young everyone was, even himself. Zuko slid an arm around his newest friend and pulled him into his side.

“Well for starters, no plan you’ve ever made has gone completely wrong, so jot that down.”

Sokka chuffed. Not quite a laugh, but he was smiling a little.

“And for seconds, the fact that terrible things have happened to your loved ones is NOT your fault. In fact I’d say it was the opposite of your fault. Your father took a risk, the same risk any warrior would have. Suki was captured because my sister is a sneaky arse, not because of you. None of this was your fault.”

Sokka relaxed into Zuko’s shoulder, knees coming down so he was sitting with his legs out in front of him. 

“Then why did you agree to come with me?”

“Because you needed help and I wanted to help you. Plus, you may be the “planning guy”, but I’m the “making everything up on the spot guy”. Together we’re unstoppable!”

“If you say so.” Sokka closed his eyes, “You’re really warm, you know. And comfy.” Sokka wrapped his arms around the other boy’s middle.

“I have been told. Go to sleep Sokka, you’ll need the rest.”

“Hmmmmm” 

Sokka fell asleep like that. Eventually, when he was sure Sokka wouldn’t wake up from the jostling, Zuko extracted himself from Sokka’s hold and laid him down onto the bedroll before settling down on his own.

“Goodnight Sokka” was whispered before the banished prince was also asleep.


	3. Katara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone needs a good cry now and then.

It was raining. A cold rain that Katara no longer had the presence of mind to bend away from them. So she sat there, at the back of Appa’s saddle, ankles tucked behind her hands, staring off into nowhere. 

Her entire identity had been ripped away from her. For so long she had been defined by her anger towards the fire nation and the man who killed her mother, her body was simply rejecting the fact that she had spared his life.

That was something Zuko understood, at least. In the wood they were flying over he spotted a shack with no smoke and brought Appa down next to it. Standing up, he turned around to see that Katara hadn’t moved a muscle from her seat. 

“Come on Katara. We need to go inside. You can’t stay out here.” 

Katara looked up at him without seeing him nodded and caught hold of Zuko’s outstretched hand. He pulled her to her feet and guided her into the hut before going back to Appa to collect the bedrolls and food they had stored on his saddle. Finally, he led Appa under some nearby trees and stretched out the small amount of canvas they had between some trees so the bison would have something solid to shelter under. When he returned to the hut, Katara had gained a little of the light in her eyes, enough so that when Zuko asked her to take the water out of their clothes she did it. 

“There’s no wood dry enough to start a fire, so we’ll have to make do with me.” Katara nodded and actually looked at him this time. Zuko sat down next to her and conjured a fire in front of them, trying to warm the both of them up enough to sleep. His fire faltered when he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks.

Enough was enough. He pulled her into a hug so that her head was resting on the part where his right shoulder became his chest and kept her there. She started to sob.

Six years of grief, six years when she understood war as no child in the fire nation ever would. Six years of being her brother’s carer and several of leading her small community as best she could because she was her father’s daughter and that meant a great deal when it came to her responsibilities. Months of doing untold emotional labour keeping her small friendship group together and alive while they tried to save the world.

The dam had broken and the flood had come.

Slowly, slowly she calmed, arms coming around Zuko’s chest for the first time instead of hanging limply by her side. She squeezed once and pulled away. To come face to face with a Zuko who also had tears in his eyes.

“Sorry Katara. I just haven’t hugged someone that long since my mother died.” She simply nodded and shuffled so that they were sitting side by side then put her head on his shoulder.

“So that no child will ever have to make the choice between mercy and revenge again.”

He nodded and put his arm around her shoulder. 

They fell asleep like that, leaning against their bedrolls, Zuko’s body heat keeping them warm enough.

The next morning, the rain had stopped and Katara felt lighter.


	4. Suki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suki has a nightmare.

She gasped awake. She couldn’t sit up, something was tying her down. She had to get out. Then Sokka shifted beside her and murmured something unintelligible. 

It was Sokka’s arm around her ribs. That made sense. 

She turned to watch his face, still sleeping with a soft smile. He loosened his grip enough for Suki to slip out of his grasp and get out of bed. After the nightmare she had just had, she wouldn’t be getting to sleep any time soon. Slipping her tunic over her head she left the room, heading toward the porch facing onto the beach. 

There was someone already there. She pulled herself into the shadows of the hall and watched the intruder. Then she saw the soft glow of a fire rising and falling with the unknown person’s breath. Creeping a bit closer she made out Zuko’s silhouette. So he couldn’t sleep either, huh. 

Stealthy as a cat, Suki made her way towards the banished prince practicing her breathing and sat down next to him.   
“Suki.” He said after the barest glance sideways towards her. 

“Zuko.” She replied.

They sat like that for a while, Zuko’s breathing exercises and the sound of the water gently moving against the shore soothing her enough to bring her mind out of the memories her nightmare had forced it into.

“Can’t sleep?” She asked.

“Not really. I keep thinking about Mai. If she didn’t manage to escape the boiling rock and is still in Azula’s grasp.” he shuddered. So did she. She understood what ‘being in Azula’s grasp’ meant for a person. 

“Hey,” she nudged his side with her elbow. “From what i saw during the escape and what you’ve told us, even if she didn’t manage to escape, she’s strong enough to handle anything Azula can throw at her.”

Zuko made a non committal noise at that. “I hope you’re right. What about you? Sleep evading you too?”

“I had a nightmare. About Azula. I could deal with anything thrown at me but then she started on the girls and…” Suki put her head between her knees with shuddering breaths. 

“I know.” Zuko put his arm around her shoulders. “I know Suki.”

She fell into him at that, the sideways hug a little awkward but the touch doing wonders for both of them. 

“Your girls are almost as strong as you are, Suki. If Mai will be fine, as you say then so will they. Agni, they might even be making friends. That would be a sight to see.”

Wet sobbing came from the general area of his shoulder and he smiled, resting his head on top of hers. 

After Suki had come back from her spiral, she pulled away slightly, wiping her eyes. 

“Thanks Zuko.”

“No problem.” 

She smiled. Only a very small one but a smile nonetheless.

“You give comfort well for a boy who’s spent years hunting your friends.”

“That’s down to Uncle really. His advice really is the best in the world. I hope he’ll meet you all one day, if we can ever find him again. And I hope he’ll forgive me for my betrayal.”

“From what you’ve said, he loves you Zuko. No amount of betrayal can come between two people who love each other as long as there’s remorse involved.” She squeezed his hand.

“You’re not so bad at the advice thing yourself.”

“I’m a leader.” She put her head on Zuko’s shoulder. “I’ve had years of practice.”

They sat together, watching the ocean and the stars for another hour before Suki drifted off to sleep right there on Zuko’s shoulder. He let her sleep there for a while, not wanting to wake her or go inside just yet. Then he felt himself go drowsy and shifted his arm to her back and the other under her stretched out legs, picking her up fairly easily. Shifting her slightly so her head continued to be resting on his shoulder he stood up, paused when she shifted but when she didn’t wake carried her inside. 

When he opened the door to Sokka and Suki’s room Sokka woke with a start and didn’t immediately register the new presence in their room focusing instead on Suki’s absence. He looked confused until Zuko cleared his throat and Sokka saw his girlfriend and promptly relaxed. 

Zuko laid her gently onto the bed, clasped Sokka’s shoulder as they nodded at each other. Then Zuko left the room to let the two of them go back to sleep. And to return to his own bed and make good on the hours of sleep he had left before his inevitable waking at dawn.

It was the best night of sleep he had had in a good while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was planning on Toph's being next but i couldn't come up with a conceit to have her hug someone. Anyone have any ideas???
> 
> Anyway. Suki's main fear is the people she loves or the people she leads being hurt because of her. It's very similar to Sokka's.
> 
> Which make their nightmares fun sources of angst for me


	5. Toph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph's hugs are regular, as is her advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am indebted to the comments on the last chapter. Dragonslovespace and PanWithNoPlan you have excellent ideas!
> 
> Toph spends a lot of canon hanging off of either Sokka or Zuko's arm and i find it hilarious.

The first time Toph had hugged him, Appa had just turned sharply, throwing her off balance. She just didn’t let go and eventually Zuko relaxed into the touch. He needed it as much as she did. 

After that, it wasn’t uncommon to find Toph hanging off of Zuko’s arm as the Gaang walked, she often preemptively tucked herself under his arm on Appa’s back. He allowed it because he hadn’t had such regular contact with anyone since he had betrayed his uncle in Ba Sing Se and it was nice to have semi-regular hugs. 

It helped that she had been the first to accept him, being able to tell that he wasn’t lying using her earthbending when he had first shown up to the air temple. 

So while she was closest to Sokka out of the entire group, he was a close second. They understood each other’s lives better than the others and she understood the politics of the situation they were in just as he did.

So when Zuko wanted advice about the Earth Kingdom after the war, he went to Toph. 

Which is what brought them to this, him pacing through the centre of the room with her leaning against a post, listening to him rant.

“I just don’t understand what they’re finding so difficult to understand! What is so wrong with the nations working together in this? Isn’t that what we’ve been trying to do for years now?”

She followed him muttering a few more paces before speaking up. 

“You can’t fix everything Zuko. Some things just have to be given time. This might just be one of those things. Doesn’t mean it isn’t good or you won’t get to where you want to be. They’re just taking a different route to the one you expect.”

He looked up at her, glad she couldn’t see the expression on his face. He felt so small and naive. “Thanks Toph. You always manage to find the right words.”

“Hmph. Well, I can always fix your attitude with a fight if that doesn’t work.”

He hugged her, tightly. She was a little startled at first, not really expecting his movements to end up the way that they did, but responded quickly, wrapping her arms around his waist. She had grown since they had first met but so had he and he was still much taller than her.

“Mmm, I love hugging you. You’re so warm it’s better than sitting next to a campfire.”

He laughed at that. “I’m glad I can be of service, Lady Beifong.”

“Don’t get cheeky Sparky. Food?”

He released her from the hug only to tuck her under his arm. “Food could be managed.”


	6. Mai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mai comforting Zuko this time because he can't always be the strong one.

The part that scared Mai the most was that she didn’t think twice.

When Zuko walked into their rooms with a broken look on his face she didn’t think twice before going over to him, pressing her hands against his chest with just enough pressure to get him to stop, then unpinned the heavy outer robes the firelord wore and removing the crown from his hair, placing the crown on its stand and the robe over the back of a nearby chair.

She didn’t think twice before undoing the ties on her outermost, most inconvenient robes and putting them over the same chair as Zuko’s.

She didn’t think twice about leading him to the daybed and settling him against her chest, his body sideways, with her legs either side of him.

She had been brought up to always, always think about the consequences of her actions - she was a high-born fire nation, non-bending woman. All she had going for her was an ability to understand the political nuances of actions and stay three steps ahead of everyone else at all times.

And yet, when she saw her husband suffering, she did not think twice about her actions for only the second time in her life.

The first being when she betrayed Azula for him in the boiling rock.

But she supposed it didn’t really matter. He was her husband. And most importantly her best friend.

If she could break her mother’s conditioning for anyone, it would be for him.

So she held his head to her chest as his arms wormed around her waist and held on for dear life.

He started crying into her clothes and her hands wove through his now shoulder length hair. The wig previously used for official occasions now discarded in favour of his actual hair. She pulled on the hair gently, letting the strands fall through her fingers.

All the while her legs squeezed his lower torso and thighs, trying to keep him grounded to here and now rather than where she knew his head actually was.

“I can’t do anything to stop it Mai. Not without Shi’s cooperation and he refuses to give it.” Zuko’s voice was muffled by the way his face was pressed into her chest but even without that she knew it would have been quiet. He started crying harder. Mai simply stroked his hair and back, waiting for him to cry himself out.

There had been an outbreak of a deadly disease in one of the more remote regions. One fire nation medicine had been unable to heal. Zuko had tried to get waterbending healers to them but the governor of the province, Lord Shi, refused to allow waterbending healers to tend to the people. He wouldn’t allow waterbenders into the province and ‘put the fire nation doctors out of work’. 

Technically, Zuko could simply order Shi to let the healers in to help but Zuko’s position on the throne was still so precarious and he had already pushed a great number of the old guard nobility to their breaking point in regards to tolerance of the other nations. If he forced Shi’s hand on this they would almost certainly challenge him to an Agni Kai and keep doing it until he lost to one of them.

And yet Zuko’s people, the people he had sworn to protect, guide and serve were dying and Zuko was not doing anything about it. It was so completely against his nature he was almost scared of falling ill as he had in Ba Sing Se after letting Appa go.

And Mai just sat there, holding Zuko close to her as though he were a child because he needed someone else to be strong for him.

Eventually he calmed down. His face was no longer pressed into her collarbone, merely resting there. His grip on her waist was no longer vice-like.

“If only there were some way Katara and Toph could beat some sense into the man the way she did with Master Pakku.” Mai joked, still stroking his hair.

“Oh that would be wonderful to see.” he agreed, smiling into her. “But unfortunately he wouldn’t stand the humiliation.” Zuko sat up, wiping his eyes. Her leg was now in his lap, the other supporting his back. She missed the presence already even though he had placed his hands on her knee, gently moving his thumb across the skin there.

“Shi’s main problem is the removal of jobs for fire nation doctors, right?”

Zuko hummed his reply, knowing she was going somewhere.

“So. What if we framed it as two nations working together to share knowledge. Improve both of their crafts. We ask the north pole to send some of their healers to us, we send them out to fire nation doctors in the field. They stay for a few months, learning from each other and learning each other’s ways. It helps our nation by improving our medicine and it gets water bending healers to the worst affected areas as well as to the rest of the nation.” Zuko was nodding, slightly awed at his wife’s ingenuity. It’s one thing knowing you’ve married one of the most intelligent women the fire nation has ever produced and another when she reminds you of it thirty seconds after you’ve been crying into her chest. 

He turned his body towards her and kissed her. “Mai, you’re a genius!” He immediately stood up and started to pace, muttering to himself.

“So there are twelve doctors within a few day’s journey to the most affected region. Only five within the region itself. But in order to make it plausible…” he trailed off, still pacing. 

Mai sat and looked at him for a few minutes, allowing herself the time to admire the firelord Zuko had become before getting out of her position on the day bed and picking up her robe from the chair she had left it over. 

“I’m going to collect Uncle, Toph and the health minister then send a letter to Katara, ok Zuko?”

He paused in his pacing to send her a nod and an appreciative smile before resuming. She simply smiled the tiniest smile in return; put her robe back on; caught him long enough to give him a quick kiss on the cheek and ventured to find the people they needed to fix the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooh, you can really feel the longing in this one...


End file.
